This Salad, on Repeat

Last year, I wrote about a half dozen fall vegetable love stories: Cabbage Loves Apples, Beets Love Dill, Chinese Greens Love Ginger, and I’d like to add a new one to the list: Squash Loves Tahini. Specifically delicata squash; I’ve been making this salad above for lunch almost every day: Greens, roasted delicata, tahini dressing, and store bought dukkah, the Middle Eastern sesame-nut-spice blend that lends an addictive crunch to every dish it graces. The salad is filling and comes together fast, especially when I roast the squash ahead of time.

Greens with Roasted Squash, Tahini, & Dukkah
This recipe serves 2 but can be doubled and tripled accordingly. I imagine it could easily be turned into dinner by adding baked tofu or crispy-spicy chickpeas. VEGAN

14-16 pound delicata squash, halved, seeded, and sliced into moons (you do not have to peel)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Maple-Tahini dressing (below)
2 large handfuls fresh greens (this is a pre-mixed bag from the farmer’s market)
2 tablespoons finely minced red onion
2 tablespoons dukkah, I like west-bourne brand (or, alternately, crushed pistachios)

Heat oven to 425°F. On a parchment-or foil-lined baking sheet, using your hands, toss squash slices with olive oil, paprika, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until golden. (I find they are more toasted and golden on their undersides; you could flip halfway through if you want, but I never do.) Let cool.

Meanwhile, make tahini dressing.

Divide greens between two bowls and season lightly with salt and pepper. Top each with squash slices, minced onions, a nice drizzle of dressing, and a sprinkling of dukkah.

Maple-Tahini Dressing: Whisk together 1/4 cup tahini (I love Soom premium), 2 teaspoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon olive oil, dash hot sauce, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon water at a time (up to 4 tablespoons) until it reaches drizzle-able consistency. (Depending on your tahini, it might seize for a bit, but keep adding water and whisking, and it will loosen.)

You can find dukkah in Middle Eastern specialty stores, the spice aisle of better supermarkets, or online.

P.S. For more simple vegetarian recipes like this one, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.